


Half Witch

by Crartistic



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: I'm terrible at tagging, Interspecies Relationship(s), Multi, No proofread we die like men, Other, a sassy 900 year old witch has to pretend to be a dumb teenager, being ghosted for centuries sucks, but i promise you there will be angst, douxie is a pansexual idiot, half troll oc, half witch oc, most of this is written at night, slowburn romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:01:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27461623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crartistic/pseuds/Crartistic
Summary: Allegra Garcia is a witch. Well, half witch. After 900 years, she finds herself in a town called Arcadia, where she has to deal with trolls, aliens and other shenanigans with her newfound friends.Meanwhile, Blinky enlists the help of a troll named Yllaria to train the first human trollhunter.
Relationships: Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler | Stricklander, Draal/Nomura (Tales of Arcadia), Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Original Character(s), Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez, Steve Palchuk/Aja Tarron, Toby Domzalski/Darci Scott
Kudos: 11





	1. Welcome to Arcadia Oaks (Highschool)

**Author's Note:**

> Allegra finds herself in Arcadia Oaks. Meanwhile Yllaria joins Blinky and Aaarrrgghh to meet the new Trollhunter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allegra finds herself in Arcadia Oaks. Meanwhile Yllaria joins Blinky and Aaarrrgghh to meet the new Trollhunter.

_Allegra_

The only reason Allegra was standing in front of a full classroom with twenty-first century teens was because she looked like one of them and the principal had dragged her to his office after seeing her wandering around during school hours.

Sure, she could have retorted she was older than she looked - which isn't hard when you're several centuries older than said man - yet had wisely decided to stay inconspicuous and tell him she was new in town. She did have a problem when being asked about her parents. She wasn't entirely sure how he would react to her telling him her parents had been dead for years.

Instead, she had told him she never knew her parents and ran away from the orphanage several towns away. It was a stretch, but at least he believed it and didn't ask too many questions about it... Yet. 

Everyone was staring at her, even though she deemed herself to look normal. Golden eyes and black hair with purple tips. Being tall for your 'age' wasn't too normal around here either, apparently.

"Don't be shy, introduce yourself," the history teacher said, whose name she learned was Strickler.

"Hi everyone , my name is Allegra Garcia. I'm new here, obviously."

Strickler nodded and gestured towards an empty chair, "Take a seat, miss Garcia, then we'll continue my lesson on the Peloponnesian war." He then continued his explanation while walking through the classroom.

"Look up talking amulet," Allegra overheard.

Her interest in their conversation peaked an her attention on the actual subject of the class had vanished. It wasn't like she needed the explanation to get a passing grade, considering her actual age.

There was only one 'talking amulet' she knew about and it sure wasn't a toy. Could it be Merlin's? It would be unusual for it to choose a human though...

"Jim, would you agree on Herodotus' opinion on his tactics of war?" Strickler said, gaining the attention of both Jim and Allegra.

"Absolutely!"

"Which ones specifically?"

"The, uh, winning ones?"

As if on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. She stood up and walked away, looking back one last time to see Strickler talking to Jim. _Who are you, Jim?_

She immediately bumped into a blonde boy wearing a blue polo. "What's so interesting about Lake over there? If you want to be cool, stick with me, I'm Steve, Steve Palchuk."

She gave him an undifferent look. She wasn't interested in being cool since she didn't intend to remain a high school student for too long. "What if I don't care about that? Should I then be friends with him?"

"Trust me, you'll want to be friends with me." The look on his face gave her the idea he wanted to be more than friends.

"Tell me, Steve, do you flirt with every girl you meet? If so, I suggest you find someone who's actually interested or single."

Before he could say anything in his defense she already walked away. She wasn't interested, that much was true. Was she in a relationship? Technically, yes. Being ghosted by the other wasn't the same as breaking up, right? Even if the ghosting in question happened centuries back...

Allegra's next class was gym with coach Lawrence. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and, unlike some of her girls, she was actually participating by climbing the rope.

Maybe she shouldn't try to hard, attracting too much attention was the last thing she wanted. Or needed for that matter.

However, she drew the line at a teacher insulting a student and it was no surprise that it ended with a thankful Toby, an angry coach Lawrence and her being given detention on her first day. Note to self, don't talk back even though you're older and wiser than the teacher in question.

"Mrs. Garcia," Principal Levit began, "You've been here for less than a day and you've already gotten in trouble."

"It was against my principles not to do anything, sir," she retorted, "I wouldn't want to be at war with myself."

"And I wouldn't want you to be at war with your teachers."

The urge to roll her eyes was great, but I'm doing so, she would probably 'disrespect ' her elder. Why had she stopped fysically aging at sixteen again?

"If I say I'm sorry, do I still have detention?"

Principal Levit shook his head, "Don't think you'll get off too easy just because you're new. You will still have to serve detention."

_Guess I'll have to tell him I can't keep up my promise for today..._

When she walked towards her locker, she was approached by Toby and Jim. "Thanks for standing up for me during gym. I hope that didn't get you in too much trouble," Toby said.

"It's not a problem," Allegra told him, "Just detention. It's not like it's the end of the world or something."

The three of them than noticed Steve forcing Eli Pepperjack into his locker. Both Jim and Allegra wanted to do something about it, despite Toby insisting to just leave it. In the end, it was Jim who beat Allegra to it and got himself in trouble instead of her.

"Tell us about the monsters!" Steve demanded.

Eli proceeded to explain what he had seen that morning. Allegra was quick to realise what he was talking about: trolls. To be frank, having people know about the existence of trolls wasn't the best idea, even if no one but a select few would believe him.

"Are you glad you didn't go in now?" Toby asked her, "Jimbo will only get himself a beating!"

"I think the only thing Steve would make me suffer through is more flirting," Allegra mused, "Besides, he's all talk. All 'tough' guys are. You just need to find his weak spot."

Toby looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds to me like you've got some experience with this sort of thing. You might want to tell Jimbo all of this."

Allegra nodded, "Plenty of it. And don't worry, I might." 

Toby must have found his courage during their conservation because he started to chant 'let him out' until other joined in. In the end, it was coach Lawrence who prevented a beating by telling Steve that he should be at practice. 

"Need a ride home?" Jim asked, "Arcadia might be new to you after all." 

Allegra shook her head, "Thanks for the offer, but no need. I'll get home. Besides, I still have detention." 

_Jim_

Once Jim was back home, Toby called him to ask him if the amulet had started talking again yet. After hanging up, Jim sat down and turned on the TV. He took out the amulet and tried to get it to talk again by talking to it. 

_What am I thinking? An amulet can't talk._

His senses were heightened when he heard sounds coming from below. Probably racoons, but still worth checking out. Holding a broom as if it was a sword, he made his way downstairs, into the unlit basement.

Just when he thought he had just imagined the noise, he looked back to see a six-eyed creature walking towards him with its four arms spread out like it was going to grab him. He hit his head against a pipe. In an attempt to get away from the thing, he moved backwards, hitting his head again. 

"Master Jim, we have found you!" the creature said, "I am known as Blinky." 

Jim tried to crawl away, only to bump into another, even bigger, creature who looked down and waved at him. "Hi." 

Looking back in the direction of 'Blinky', he saw a third one had joined them. A female, judging by the posture and hair. In comparison to the other two, she looked almost human. That was, aside from the light purple skin, the grey-ish horns, the tusks, and the fact she was taller than the already tall Blinky. 

"Aaarrrgh," the big brute said, "Three R's." 

"The name's Yllaria," the female one said. 

Knowing their names didn't make the situation less frightening. Jim yelped and closed his eyes, hoping all of it had just been his imagination. 

After Blinky had explained to him he was destined to be the trollhunter, charged with the protection of a secret world unbeknownst to humans - not without more screaming and being held upside down by Aaarrrgghh - he fainted.

"Is that a yes?" Aaarrrgh questioned.

"I think it's inconclusive," Yllaria mused. She couldn't help but check Jim out a little more by trying to open his eyes and lifting his limbs. "I told you we'd scare him, he's the first human trollhunter after all."

"We've been nothing but kind to him!"

"Blinky, you have six eyes and four arms, even my wizard ex-boyfriend would have freaked out." She then turned to Aaarrrgghh, "Also, I don't think humans would appreciate being held like that for too long.

"You think he'll wake up soon?" Aaarrrgghh asked.

Yllaria shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Then we should leave. We're losing moonlight!"   
  



	2. Well, that happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blinky, Aaarrrgghh and Yllaria inform Jim about his new duty as the trollhunter. Meanwhile, Allegra has to help with the production of the play as punishment and uses magic.

_Jim_

"You should totally use it to kick Steve's butt!"

That wasn't the reaction Jim had expected after showing his friend a glowing sword and a suit of armor that could only be magic.

"Also, who's 'they'?"

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, followed seconds later by the sight of Blinky through the window. Before Toby could even yell at him to open the door, he opened it himself.

Blinky was followed by Aaarrrgghh, who struggled to get through the door, and Yllaria, who fit easily by stooping down a little. 

Toby hid behind the counter and called Animal Control. They quickly hung up, however, thinking it was some sort of prank call. "Animal control hung up on me."

"Blinky, please tell me you didn't try to tell him the amulet was 'calling to us'." She leaned against the counter, where Aaarrrgghh had just picked up Toby, who was in a state of pure panic. "And yes, we talk."

"They're like nine feet tall!"

"More like seven to eight feet, actually," Yllaria corrected him, "It varies." 

In an attempt to calm him down, Jim introduced the three trolls to Toby. In turn, Blinky explained Jim now had the task of protecting, which Toby compared to a superhero who might need a sidekick with a cool name. 

"Your friend is the first human trollhunter," Yllaria said, "Tasked with protecting troll and mankind alike." 

"From who?" 

"Bad trolls," Aaarrrgghh said.

Blinky nodded, "and goblins, gruesomes and rogue gnomes. It is your sacred obligation." 

While Blinky continued to explain to Jim what it meant to be the trollhunter, Toby hit him with a ladle until he told him if he minded. Then, his curiosity got the best of him and he touched Yllaria's horns from behind, wondering what they were made of. 

She didn't even turn around, "I suggest you stop that if you wish to keep your hand." He quickly let go, "If you find my horns so interesting, you could just ask about them." 

"Awesome sauce!" 

Then, there was a light, accompanied by a light that only come from a car. "It's my mom, she's not supposed to be home till midnight! Quick, upstairs!" 

The two boys and the three trolls went up the stairs and hid in the bathroom, waiting until Barbara would leave. "

To say that Blinkys's words calmed Jim down would be a lie. While hiding in the bathroom, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh told him about the formadible Kanjigar, who had been felled by the brute Bular.

" Don't worry, he might underestimate you," Yllaria said, "Arrogance is one of his biggest flaws."

Before Barbara could come in, the trolls and Toby hid in the bathtub, where Aaarrrgghh sniffed Toby again because he smelled like a cat.

"Stop sniffing me, giant troll dude!" Toby whisper yelled.

The four of them stayed there until Barbara had gone back to work. They then went downstairs, where Aaarrrgghh decided to look around, making a mess of the room dud to his size.

"Maybe next time, we should just meet outside," Yllaria said, "Or pick a bigger location."

Blinky nodded and walked towards Jim. "So, what do you say? Ready to begin your training?"

"I don't know, it's a school night."

"The relevance of that statement escapes me."

"and the whole thing with Kanjigar being killed by a vicious troll named Bular might be a bit of a deal breaker."

Yllaria shrugged, "He's got a point. What he means is that..."

"I don't want to die!"

Blinky blinked and after a while exclaimed, "Goodness gracious, who does?!"

Jim tried to give him back the amulet, claiming he wasn't strong enough and that someone else should pick up the mantle of trollhunter instead.

Before the three trolls left, Blinky turned to Jim one last time. "Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives, living existence as a quiet desperation. Never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders, is actually, a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights. Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valour, that to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what is means to be a hero. Don't think, Master Jim. Become!" 

_Allegra_

_"Miss Garcia, does this class bore you?" Strickler asked when sleep deprivation had caused her to fall asleep in class._

_She looked up. "No."_

_Truth be told, history did kind of bore her, which wasn't difficult to accomplish considering she might have actually been there. She already knew who would win the war, so why should she bother paying attention?_

**_Oh, right, staying inconspicuous._ **

"It has come to my attention that you don't seem to be too motivated to do well in the academic department," principal Levit said as Allegra was once again sitting in front of him in his office. 

Allegra looked around, lost in her own thoughts. What was she supposed to say? _Oh, I'm sorry the world history they are teaching here is not entirely correct? I know this because I actually met this guy years ago._ Definitely not that. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't get much sleep," she replied. She deliberately left out what she had actuallly done that night. She reckoned making sure the streets were safe and running around with creatures that supposedly did not exist wouldn't be too believable. 

She was let out by the principal, but not without some form of punishment. "I suggest at least one extracurricular activity might motivate you. You are to help with the production of the play, they're doing Romeo and Juliet, so you might learn something about Shakespeare." 

Allegra sighed. She didn't hate Shakespeare, but well, she had already seen it when it first came out over a hundred years ago. "Right, I'll report to mrs. Janeth right away." 

She walked past the lockers towards the gym, where the auditions were being held, noticing Jim and Toby rushing towards the locker room in a state of pure panic. Strickler followed them. Maybe she could have helped, but she figured it wasn't her problem. 

It was probably about the amulet reacting to Jim's emotional state. She didn't know the inner workings, but it was only reasonable to assume it would act differently with a human wielding it. They better come up with a good reason for him wearing armor. 

She found out what they had told Strickler soon enough when Jim walked up the stage wearing it, claiming to be reading for Romeo. He gave a speech about ''destiny', the amulet reacting to what he was saying by glowing brighter. He sounded like a natural, even though she had heard the exact same speech before, only said by someone else. 

"He's good, right?" Mary asked, seated next to her, "I mean, that speech was just..." 

_Copied._ "Original," Allegra lied. 

Toby sat down next to her. "He's good, isn't he?"

"He's alright," she told him. Frankly, he was better than the person who had played Romeo in the original. Then again, the first draft that it had been based on wasn't as good either. "Not that I know a lot about theater or Shakespeare."

"Why are you here then?"

"Punishment for sleeping through history class and being an 'insufferable know-it-all'."

Principal Levit hadn't called her that, but she had heard the statement several times in her life, usually stated by people who were supposed to be her elders.

"Hey, where do you live?"

Allegra's eyes widened. She hadn't really thought about what to answer if the question arose. She did actually have a cheap apartment, but it was totally unbelievable for a fifteen year old girl to live on her own, even if she had run away from an orphanage.

"Just a bit past the canals," she lied. Her apartment was downtown, but it wasn't like she wanted him to know where her house actually was.

"Jimbo and I cycle past there too!" Toby exclaimed, "We could cycle together, you know, the three of us!"

Allegra thought about it for a second. Maybe she should say yes to blend in and act like a regular teenager in desperate need of social contact. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? 

Apparently, the worst thing that could happen was being chased by none other than the Gumm-Gumm prince himself: Bular.

"If it isn't the Trollhunter," he had said. Then it had only taken one short look at the girl for him to recognize her, "and the hex wench."

 _That doest even rhyme..._ Allegra thought while cycling away from the big troll with her new friends. Naturally, she elected to ignore the confused looks for now, being too worried about surviving.

"Behind Stuart's!" Jim exclaimed, pointing at the electronics store. There was a small pathway between the store and another building.

Toby claimed that he wouldn't fit, but Jim countered that he would because he had been on a diet. At first, Allegra was sceptic, but if needed, she might be able to stall by using magic.

Toby entered the narrow pathway last, after Jim and Allegra. "I'm fitting!" he said happily, but since Bular was right on his tail, it would be too much of a close call for comfort.

As she briefly looked back, the ring Allegra wore started glowing purple and an invisible forcefield prevented him from grabbing Toby.

With a sigh of relief, Allegra turned her head again and they found themselves in the open air once more soon after. Luckily, it didn't seem as if Toby had seen anything since he kept talking about how lucky they had been to get out unscathed.

"Something tells me we haven't seen the last of him yet," Allegra said to herself, not even loud enough for the two boys to hear.

They met up with Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. _Fudge bucket_ s. Now Allegra had to either pretend to be entirely freaked out - the expected reaction - or a reason as to why she wasn't.

Considering she was well past the point of initially freaking out, she opted for the latter.

"You have a sweet voice, but you bring death with you!"

Jim looked at Allegra, the number of questions accumulating in his mind. "It was like he recognized you," he muttered, "Also, are you not freaked out?!"

"About the creature with four arms and six eyes?" she said, "Well, I'm more freaked about the fact some weird brute just tried to kill me!"

Said 'weird brute' appeared seconds after she had said that.

Since Blinky wasn't a fighter and Aaarrrgghh was a pacifist - a waste of hulking brute indeed - the five of them choose to run away instead of facing him head on. 

Even after Jim had finally donned his armor, he still wisely chose to strategically retreat. However, Bular was surprisingly fast, considering his size.

Jim stood in front of him, holding the sword of Daylight without having the knowledge to actually wield it while the rest of them had already found themselves under the bridge, horngazel ready.

She had to do something. Disregarding the idea of the many questions she would get from Jim and Toby, she ran towards Jim, taking off her ring. As she flew through the air, it turned into a staff.

Before Bular could even hit Jim, she landed between the two of them, a purple forcefield dividing the troll and the two humans.

Jim's eyes widened, "What the..."

Bular was stronger than Allegra had anticipated. _Fudge buckets._ Instead of actually trying to hit the troll, she created a portal and pulled both herself and Jim through it, arriving in front of where Blinky was drawing the arch.

The five of them entered the magical archway and were met with a glowing crystal staircase downwards.

Needless to say, both Jim and Toby were freaking out. At first, it was because of Jim almost being killed by a vicious troll.

"A life of almost is a life of never!" Blinky remarked.

When they were done talking fast about how they all had come close to dying, the second matter at hand was discussed.

"How did you do that?!" Toby exclaimed, looking at Allegra with raised eyebrows and curiosity in his eyes, "Because that, was _awesome_ _sauce_!"

Allegra smiled, "Thanks, that was magic."

"So, are you like... a witch?"

"I prefer sorceress," Allegra told Jim, "Witch has such a negative connotation."

Of course Blinky had to ruin the moment by telling her she could have stepped in sooner. He did have a point, the situation might have been a lot less stressful but it wasn't like Allegra had wanted the two human boys to know about the fact she was a witch.

As a method of avoiding further questions for now, she claimed she had to go home. She could just make a portal and be home within seconds. "I get that you two have a lot of questions, but I would love to get home. So you can ask all of those _tomorrow."_ She then created a portal and left before any of them could say anything else.


	3. How To Train Your Trollhunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim and Toby find themselves in Trollmarket, where they make a shocking discovery about Yllaria. Allegra answers some burning questions.

_Jim_

Jim and Toby marveled at the sight of Trollmarket and the Hearthstone at the center of it. It was lively, with colorful signs to the shops and a wide variety of trolls.

One of those he recognized: Yllaria. She was walking with a purple troll who had somewhat of a human build. He was bigger than her and had more trollish features.

"I'm just saying that you should be careful," the purple troll said.

Yllaria sighed, "I know you're just worried about me, but I can protect myself just fine." She then noticed Blinky and Aaarrrgghh walking with two human boys.

The reaction of other trolls were anything but positive, a mix of fear and disgust in their voices as they called them 'fleshbags'.

"Hi!" Toby said happily when he saw the female troll, "Yllaria, right?"

She nodded, "Tobias, wasn't it?" Unlike Blinky, she actually remembered names.

"Of course the half-breed speaks to these fleshbags lik they're friends," a big, female troll with green skin and an orange nose said.

Jim raised his eyebrows and glanced at the smaller troll. If her face was anything to go by, she was pissed. She must not have wanted either of them to know and had been trying to keep it a secret. "Half-breed?"

Aaarrrgghh nodded, "Half human."

Well, that would explain the very much human features among the more trollish ones.

It was then that another troll arrived, looking like he was about to kill him. It was a blue troll, with spikes on his back, a nose ring and intimidating antler-like horns.

Blinky explained to the trolls that Jim had been chosen by the amulet as the new trollhunter.

"Bushigal!" the blue, spiky troll - Draal - exclaimed, whereas the rest - minus Yllaria - gasped. To proof it, Jim summoned his armor. "For the honor of-"

"Glory."

"Right." Jim flashed an apologetic smile. "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!" 

The armor wrapped itself around him in blue light and the sword manifested itself in his hand.

By now, Draal had stormed off to fetch Vendel and Blinky and Aaarrrgghh took it as their cue to continue the tour through Trollmarket.

Yllaria decided to tag along, surprisingly not at all too bothered to deal with questions.

"How can you be half human?" Toby asked, rather insensitively.

Yllaria shrugged, "My mother is human. Well, was, before she died." She briefly looked away, "My father is a bit paranoid about my safety, but I get where he's coming from. My skin is not as durable as the skin of a full troll and obviously, I'm not as big as the stronger trolls."

"That troll you were with, that was your dad?"

She nodded and added with a smile, "Also, Draal may be arrogant and not like the fact I'm only half troll, he still tends to act like he's supposed to protect me. When we were little, we actually got along without insulting each other."

Toby raised an eyebrow. "Right, and when was that?"

"Give or take 900 years ago."

Jim and Toby stared at her with their mouths wide open. For someone her age, she was agile and looked like someone in their twenties - for human standards that was.

The five of them arrived at a place Blinky called the 'Hero's Forge', where Jim was to start his training.

"So, if Jimbo is the first human trollhunter, were the others before him all trolls? That sounds ironic, like you guys are hunting yourselves," Toby said, raising a valid point.

"The trollhunter protects us from bad trolls, the Gumm-Gumms.

" Gumm-Gumms? That doesn't sound too bad."

"In Troll speak, Gumm-Gumm means 'bringer of horrible, slow, painful and thoroughly-calculated death'." Blinky explained. He then told them that most of them, along with their leader, had been exiled to the Darklands and that only the prince, Bular was roaming the surface lands.

Before they could start Jim's training, a big, beige troll with long white locks for a beard and a staff arrived.

He stopped to look at Toby, "So this is the fleshbag who is supposed to be our new trollhunter," he said, "I am Vendel, son of Rundle, son of Kilfred."

"Toby, son of Ralph, grandson of Nana."

Jim and Yllaria both coughed, "Uhm, Vendel..." Yllaria said and pointed at Jim, "It's him."

Vendel said something about the ridiculousness of a human trollhunter and the amulet having made ill-fated choices before. Something Blinky should know all too well about.

"What does he mean?" Jim asked.

"Unkar, the Unfortunate," Yllaria replied, "A Trollhunter who was trained by Blinky."

"What happened?"

"First night out, torn," Aaarrrgghh said.

"Like conflicted?"

"Limb from limb."

Vendel then suggested that they should consult the Soothscryer to determine whether the amulet made a mistake or not by chosing a human to wield it. For a moment, Jim was terrified to put his hand in, asking if he was going to get it back in advance. In order to actually reach it, he stood on top of Toby and put his hand in, screaming when the machine turned on. 

Once his hand was free, he turned to Vendel. "So, what does it say?" 

"Hmm," Vendel mused, "Inconclusive. Since you're the first human to wield the amulet, I'm afraid the Soothscryer will need more time to render its judgement." He soon left, ending it on the note that he hoped for Jim that he'd actually get the chance to prove his worth.

After Jim left, Blinky walked towards Yllaria, who seemed worried. Maybe she doubted the Amulet's desicion to pick a human, but she knew better than to underestimate someone. After all, he might be able to use his small size to his advantage when facing his foes.

"Yllaria, I do Believe I need your help," Blinky said, "I am not much of a fighter as you may very well know."

"You don't want him to end up like Unkar," she said, "I don't do all the 'teaching' stuff very well, but I'm more than willing to be a sparring partner to him and give him some practical tips."

Yllaria wasn't the best fighter, that much was true, but she knew how to fight smart. She was capable of identifying her opponent's weakness and use it against them. Over the years, she had also gotten proficient with several different weapons.

_Allegra_

Just as she had expected, a stream of questions came her way after school. Obviously, someone had done their research on wizards.

Allegra, Jim and Toby were walking towards the canals, where Allegra would leave them while they went to Trollmarket. Even though she actually knew most of the trolls from Dwoza, she told the two boys the trolls probably wouldn't like her being there, considering what she had done.

"So, are you like, way older than you look?" Toby asked, "How long have you known you could do all that awesome magic stuff?"

"Correct," Allegra said, "People usually are off with a couple centuries when guessing my age. Also, I was taught how to use magic when I was eight years old."

"Who taught you?" Jim asked, "Was it a powerful wizard?"

"Like Merlin!"

"Vendel taught me," Allegra replied, "Magic was outlawed in 12th century Camelot, so I had to turn to other creatures of magic to learn how to control it."

Toby gaped at her. 12th century? She was ancient! Allegra noticed his look. "If you think I'm old, just think about the fact that Merlin is over a thousand years old." _And so are several trolls..._

"You said you don't want to go to Trollmarket because of something you did..." Jim said, "What did you do to make the trolls so angry if one of them actually taught you?"

She shrugged, "According to Vendel, I didn't use my magic for the right thing, so I don't think he would want to see me."

"What did you use it for?" Jim asked.

"I used it to change my appearance. I just... You know, wanted to fit in." Allegra halted when the three of them arrived at the canals. "I guess I'll hear it if you've got more questions for me. However, I am not going to answer all of of your questions, especially if they are too personal."

"Do you have a boyfriend? I believe I heard Steve mention something like that," Toby mused.

"Technically," Allegra stated, "I mean, it's not like we ever officially broke up. We just haven't really been talking to each other."

"In how long?" Jim asked.

Allegra shrugged, "Centuries." With that statement, she left the two - now thoroughly confused - boys behind.

_Jim_

Walking towards the Hero's Forge, Jim and Toby were joined by Yllaria. "So... Ready for your training?"

Jim shook his head. He didn't know if he was ever going to be truly ready, if the Amulet had just made a mistake, and if the trolls he was supposed to protect were ever going to accept him.

"You worried?" Allegra said. It sounded more like a statement rather than a question, "I can basically smell it on you."

"Well, I do believe I have good reasons to be scared! I mean, I've never been in a fight in my life and now there's an evil troll out to kill me and the beings I'm supposed to protect hate me!"

"They don't hate you, they just need some time. Before you know it, they'll just occasionaly insult you for not being a troll."

That didn't make Jim feel any better. Obviously.

"Besides, you've got one third of trollhunting 101 down."

Now that, that was just confusing the poor boy.

When Blinky started explaining the three rules of trollhunting while he was face to face with Yllaria, it made sense.

 _Always be afraid._ That shouldn't be too hard. In fact, he was nailing it already by trying to dodge every attack that was thrown his way.

 _Always finish the fight._ That one was going to be a bit harder. It wasn't exactly in his nature to just finish people of. He had never fought anyone before, let alone hurt them.

 _When in doubt, kick them in the gronknuts._ Apparently, one third of trollhunting was hitting someone in the nards. Great. Luckily for him, he didn't get a demonstration from Yllaria.

"Come on, fight back," she stated, "Stand up for yourself. I'm going easy on you, Bular sure as heck isn't going to."

Before he could even try to fight her, they were rudely interrupted by Vendel and Draal, who wanted to 'see how his training was fairing'.

In truth, it seemed more like an excuse to have Draal face him in a match and land Jim a crushing defeat. It didn't take long for Draal to win by a landslide, ultimately holding Jim over the edge before not-so-gently dropping him on the ground.

"Yllaria, do you really think this scrawny fleshbag could ever hope to defeat Bular?" Draal said.

Yllaria didn't flinch. "Right now? Not a change. With proper training, he might. His advantage is being able to walk in the sunlight, have you ever thought about that? Maybe that's why the Amulet chose a human over you."

Draal growled in an attempt to intimidate the female half troll. "It is times like these that make me question where your loyalties lie. Fleshbags cannot be entrusted with the protection of trollkind. They are not strong enough."

"If you give him time, he might surprise you. I mean, you never thought I could beat you in a fight, yet I can."

After that comment, Draal left. He probably didn't have a clever remark or insult to throw at her.

"That was awesome sauce! Can you really beat him?"

She smiled as Blinky joined in the conversation. "Yes, she can! That is exactly why I asked her to help train you!"

Jim looked at the purple half troll who had just stood up for him. "You really believe I can do it? You believe I can be the trollhunter and live?"

"I hope so, for both our sakes."

Jim looked down and took out the amulet, trying to hand it to either Blinky, Aaarrrgghh or Yllaria. "I think it chose wrong. Yllaria would be much better suited, anyone would."

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh explained that the amulet was now bonded to him and that he didn't have a say in the matter. Yllaria remained quiet, not really being used to being praised.

When Jim and Toby had gone back home, Blinky muttered, "One hit is all it takes and he'll be changed forever."

"One hit." Aaarrrgghh agreed.


End file.
